Cadillac ELR Won’t be Available at All Cadillac Dealerships

This may not actually be news to Cadillac ELR followers, but it is a confirmed statement from an exec of what most of us expected to occur.

Will This Cadillac Dealership Sell and Service the ELR?

Cadillacs says that it doesn’t expect all of its 956 US dealers to sell the extended-range ELR.

Similar to the setup with the Chevy Volt (it too is not sold at all Chevy dealerships), General Motors will require Cadillac dealers to undergo specific ELR training and to purchase special equipment if the dealership wishes to sell and service the upcoming 2014 ELR.

Jim Vurpillat, Cadillac’s global marketing boss, told Edmunds that he’s unsure of the percentage of dealers that will sign on to sell the ELR, but says the automaker doesn’t expect dealer participation to be 100 percent.

Vurpillat stated:

“We just sent the letter to our dealer body describing the requirements to be an ELR dealer.”

ELR-certified dealerships will be required to provide at least two charging stations on site, with one in the service area and the other outside of the building. In addition, at least one salesperson must be trained in the features that make the ELR unique. Cadillac estimates that to become ELR-certified, dealerships would have to spend roughly $15,000.

As Vurpillat added:

“We are not talking a lot of money, no more than $15,000. But when you are a small dealer you have to look at that and say, ‘how many am I going to sell over the life of the car versus the initial investment.’ So we will see.”

And yes, Volt-certified Chevy dealers would be able to service the ELR in emergency situations.

The 2014 Cadillac ELR is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2014. Pricing is not yet known at this time.

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Re: “And yes, Volt-certified Chevy dealers would be able to service the ELR in emergency situations.”
It is perfectly unclear on what unique skills and tools they would require over the Volt? Apparently there are some. Hopefully more information is forthcoming.

I wonder if that’s how Tesla could get around having to use dealers. They could require all “dealers” to have 5 Tesla’s on hand at all times, one Supercharger, and take their Tesla training course at a cost of $20,000 per employee. 🙂